Que Rico

Last Friday I was able to sleep in really late, and it was so nice. I finally climbed out of bed around 11am. How nice is that? That day was spent preparing for a going away party for a volunteer and baseball practice the next day.

Saturday

Baseball practice was more interesting. We had prepared activities for the kids, team builders, skill learning, and a talk for the kids who didn’t go to the first practice. It actually worked out rather well. The limiting factor is the lack of equipment. Everyone can’t catch and throw at the same time because we don’t have enough gloves or balls. We first had a few activities to get to know the kids and get them warmed up. Then we did the human knot, which was completely new to them. I ended up being in the knot to have an even number of people. Next time the kids have to do it themselves that way them are in charge of unintangling themselves.

The game we thought of was actually quite impressive, so I am going to share the details. There were two lines of kids. Each kid had their chance at the beginning of the line and they had to hit the target on a piece of board (which T and S so bravely held up), once they hit it, they switched with the kid to the side who was in charge of catching the balls that went behind the board (first time throwing after a demonstration on proper technique), and then later switched to the back where they had to collect the balls and then throw it to the kid at the side. I had to remind the kids to watch their technique more than try to throw hard, and don’t you know that worked every time. Later I mentioned that in games, getting the ball to your player is the most important thing, so technique and smart plays is better than showing how crazy but hard you can throw the ball.

Later I went to the city nearby for the going away party for a friend. She is finishing up her two years, so we gathered around to have fun. We had tried to plan a good party, but it ended up being like a normal get-together. We then went out, which we could do since the curfew is no longer hanging over our heads like a dark cloud (ok, that was too extreme a description, but sometimes it felt that way).

Sunday

The next day was interesting because people were leaving, having a hard morning, and splitting up almost all of her things (the good thing about people leaving is that they can only bring 2 suitcases home, which leaves a lot of stuff for us). I ended up staying a while after everyone to help her finish packing and clean a little bit.